Women’s rights in Middle East 5, March 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Middle East.Tags: Middle East, Women in Saudi, Women in Yemen, women's rights, Women's rights in Middle East
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A study of women’s rights in the Middle East has just been released. Tunisia and Jordan, two countries which provide legal protection against domestic abuse, came top of the list, followed by Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Yemen and Saudi propped up the list at the very bottom. Indeed, Yemen holds the dubious distinction of having the lowest percentage of women ‘economically active’ in the world at a paltry 28%.
Al Arabiyya also picked up on a typical Saudi piece of absurdity where women are allowed to study for law degrees but are not allowed to appear in court for their clients. Yet, as always with Saudi, its small steps.
The Gulf blog 
That 28% number from Yemen is appallingly low. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that Southern Yemen, particularly Aden, would have a higher rate of participation than Northern Yemen. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of this data between the North and the South.
That’s a very good point.